Well of the Wasteland
by Epikoinos
Summary: The only two Lady Knights of the realm are sent on a quest to investigate a series of ogre attacks around the remote village Well-of-the-Wasteland. Set after the end of Trickster's Queen.
1. Travelling Companions (Kel)

There were many awkward moments as Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan and her travelling companion set up camp the first evening of their journey together. Both women had much experience at setting camps, but they'd never done it together before. Over and over they bumped into each other, reached for the same tent peg or both returned with wood for the fire instead of one of them bringing drinking water from the brook.

'If I'd been her squire we would have done this on routine by now,' Kel thought to herself as both of them brought out their own fire steel to start a fire. There was no bitterness in the thought; it was a mere statement of fact.

When they finally got the fire started, Kel sat down to skin a hare as Sir Alanna the Lioness polished her shield. The fire cracked into a silence that was more awkward than companionable.

Kel had a nagging feeling that the King had sent Kel along on this mission as some sort of apology for keeping her and Alanna apart all those years, and she didn't like it. The suspicion put her on edge, and she couldn't think of anything to say that weren't dangerously close to the subject.

Suddenly, Alanna spoke.

"I wonder if this still works. Look at this!" she said.

Kel looked up from her hare and watched as the other woman's hand started to shine violet with her Gift. Then Alanna passed the hand over the face of her shield, and the younger knight felt her eyes grow large. Kel was usually in control of her facial expression, but this surprise was too sudden to be suppressed. When the Lioness withdrew her hand, the shield no longer held a lioness rampant. The red field was left, but the golden device had faded and been replaced by a black tower.

"That's the old shield of fief Trebond!" Kel exclaimed. The current Trebond shield had the same device, she knew, but its field was parted fesswise, gold over red.

"Ah, I see that you didn't fall asleep in your heraldry lessons," Alanna said with a chuckle. "Yes, I was given this shield when I was knighted 'Sir Alan of Trebond'… My brother's magic was very strong – I'm not surprised that this spell still lasts."

"Was the shield made by your brother?" Kel asked politely, trying to keep track of the older woman's musings.

"Yes. He made it in secret and spelled it like this, because 'Sir Alan' of course couldn't have a female cat on 'his' shield. So it's all thanks to Thom that I'm known as 'the Lioness'. He never wanted to be 'of Trebond', so I guess he did what he could to spare me from the same fate. And he was always more imaginative than I… I didn't even realise what the weird golden cat was when I first saw it. I couldn't imagine a heraldic lion without the mane, I suppose."

"So your first shield has held together through your whole career?" Kel asked in disbelief.

"Yeah… As I said, my brother's magic was very strong. I'm happy it has lasted; I like having something so important to remember him by. Do you know who designed your shield, Lady Knight?"

Kel looked over at her own shield, leaning against a tree-stump close by. On it her family's grey owl device soared over a pair of cream and gold glaives that were solely Kel's own. Kel saw that the owl was covered in sparrow littering again, and felt herself blush slightly. She shot an angry glance at the group of sparrows who were following along on the journey.

"I know Lalasa had a hand in making it," she said. "Perhaps adding the glaives were her idea? I don't know. Er… may I borrow some of your polish, perhaps?"

The older knight laughed as she tossed the cloth over to Kel. Alanna's worries about her up-until-recently missing daughter had deepened the lines around her mouth and eyes, but they softened with her smile.

"Speaking of glaives," the older knight said, "How about you give me another lesson in using those pointy sticks after we've eaten?"

"I'd like that," Kel said, smiling back at her.

They fell silent again as Kel scrubbed hard at her shield and the hare roasted over the fire, but now the silence was more companionable than awkward.


	2. Friction (Alanna)

They travelled along the coast. Alanna would have cherished a chance to visit her Bazhir friends, but the desert was best avoided this time in the summer. Instead Alanna found herself looking out over the sea, in the direction of the Copper Islands. Keladry rode a few paces back, to protect Alanna's dark dapple grey mare Snowfall from the bite-happy teeth of the younger knight's steed, Peachblossom.

Alanna didn't notice that Keladry had ridden up beside her (but still out of biting distance) until she heard the cheep of one of the sparrows that followed the younger woman everywhere she went. The sound woke Alanna from her daydreams of her wayward daughter, and she turned her head towards Keladry. She couldn't read the Lady Knight's face. It wasn't the first time Alanna had seen the young woman retract inside a shell of quiet politeness and stillness of face, but she still didn't know what to make of it.

"Sir Alanna," Keladry began courteously, once she had the older knight's attention, "how much of a threat do you think the ogres actually are?"

Alanna was taken aback by the question, and the solemn tone it'd been asked in. She thought for a moment.

"I think we can assume that the ogres at least exist," she replied. "And they _can _be a surly bunch, there's no doubt about that. This isn't the first report of one of the more violent clans harassing a village, as I'm sure you know."

Keladry seemed to hesitate.

"Yes, I do know that," she said. "But I don't understand – why send _two knights_ all the way from Corus?"

Alanna's shoulders stiffened. It didn't sound like Keladry was finished, but Alanna couldn't stop herself from interrupting.

"You think ogres are too harmless for knights to get involved?" she asked.

"No, sir…" Keladry began, but Alanna interrupted her again.

"Sir Emric of Princehold was killed by ogres as late as two months ago," Alanna said. She was proud of the calmness of her voice.

Something shifted in Keladry's face.

"I'm sorry," the younger woman said, her voice infinitely calmer than Alanna's. "I didn't know. I hope he has found peace in the Black God's realm. Was he a friend of yours?"

"He might have been, had I known him longer," Alanna said, now more sad than angry. "He was a good knight, and a good man." She heard the banality in her own words, but she stood by the sentiment.

They rode in silence for a while. Keladry was the first to break it.

"I didn't mean to suggest that ogres are beneath the notice of knights," she said tentatively. "The Code tells us that no knight may ignore a cry for help. What I wanted to say is that I find it a little odd to send us all the way from Corus. Aren't the Royal Arrows in Port Legann, for example? That's much closer to the ogre attacks, and I'd think a full rider group is at least as well equipped to handle ogres as two knights. But I'm sure the King has some good reason for sending us…" Keladry's voice trailed off.

"Actually, _I_ requested that we'd be sent to investigate the ogre attacks," Alanna replied. "I can't handle having nothing to do. Madness runs in my family, and it comes out when I'm idle. You saw how I became when we were snowed in up in that godsforsaken north, didn't you?"

That made Keladry smile. Alanna spoke on.

"With peacetime finally come I thought it is time we got to know each other better. Not to mention that your skill with the lance will be very useful if it comes to fighting the ogres."

Now Keladry looked away. Something in the way she bent her neck reminded Alanna of the way Yamani ladies sometimes hid their faces behind their fans.

"You honour me, Lioness," she said. "I'm sorry I angered you."

"Ah don't mind that," Alanna said, touched. "Many people will argue that making me angry is an intrinsic part of getting to know me."

That made Keladry actually laugh out loud, and Alanna laughed at her own joke just for the pleasure of laughing together with her.


	3. In Port Legann (Kel)

The two knights got a respite from life on the road when they arrived in Port Legann. They stayed at the city's keep with Lord Imrah and Lady Marielle. The nobles were old friend of Alanna's, and they did all they could to make Kel feel welcome as well. She especially warmed to them when her sparrow Bold came looking for her in the dining hall and they fed him crumbs instead of having him chased out.

After dinner Kel and Alanna took advantage of the table to spread out some maps and discuss strategy with Lord Imrah, while Lady Marielle made herself acquainted with the other sparrows who'd decided to follow along on the journey.

"The village is _here_," Lord Imrah said, pointing his thick red finger at a dot marked 'Well-of-the-Wasteland' on one of the maps. "You shouldn't have any problems finding it; as you can see it's the only place this here road leads to. You shouldn't have any trouble with bandits either, they usually stay far away from that area. The place is not named 'the Wasteland' for nothing. When it comes to finding water it's worse than even the desert proper. Not even the Gift works, the groundwater is too far down."

That didn't sound right to Kel.

"So how do the ogres get their water, then?" she asked.

"They get it from outside the Wasteland. As far as we can tell they seemed to have set up something of a camp in the mountains _here_." This time Lord Imrah placed his thick finger much closer to Port Legann.

"Is there a way we can take to village without the ogres noticing us?" Alanna asked.

"Not unless you want to leave your horses and climb. But I think two mounted knights with lances should be able to fight their way through them. I hear that Lady Knight Keladry is especially proficient with hers," Lord Imrah said with a slight bow.

Kel blushed. She had an inkling of which red-haired King's Champion Lord Imrah had 'heard' that from.

"And thank the Gods for that," Alanna replied before Kel had time to say anything. "The first time I fought ogres we didn't know about the lance thing yet. There were just three of them, but they kept me and a whole company of the Swoop's guards busy for a whole day."

"From what I remember you were kept busy by ogres for a whole _year_ back then," Lord Imrah chuckled.

Alanna laughed as well.

"Yes, I guess one could say that," she replied. "But nowadays it's just the bad eggs that start trouble. Have you learned anything new about what's made this bunch so cranky?"

"No," Lord Imrah said. "No one has tried to get past them since we sent the reports to Corus. Before that two different groups of merchants and a family on their way to Well-of-the-Wasteland to visit friends have all been attacked when they tried to pass through the mountains, as I'm sure you know. In all three cases the ogres just chased them off and shouted at them to go away. No one has tried to reason with them. My guess is that there was a fight in a nearby ogre clan, and some of them broke off to find a new place to live. Now they probably just defend what they see as their territory."

Kel wasn't so sure. Their mission had seemed straightforward enough when she read through her orders, but the more she learned about it, the more uncomfortable she felt.


	4. A Bad Day (Alanna)

"I hate rain!" Alanna grumbled as she rolled up her damp bedroll. Their camp was at the foot of the mountains they'd have to pass to get to their destination. The air had been warm the night before, and they hadn't bothered to put up their tents. Now they'd been woken by a heavy shower of rain, and it was at least an hour before sunrise at that!

Alanna's mood wasn't the only one affected by the rain; the horses were irritable and skittish too. Peachblossom bit Alanna three times in her hurry to get things packed, and even Snowfall snapped after her once.

"Prickly beasts," Alanna chided, stomping away right into a deep puddle of mud.

Keladry didn't seem to notice Alanna's mutterings. She whistled as she fed her sparrows, who were huddled in a saddle bag to escape the rain. Alanna couldn't understand how the younger woman went so painlessly from fast asleep to up and running even at the best of mornings. That she could _whistle_ on a morning like _this_ was nothing less than affronting.

* * *

Three hours later Alanna was sweating like a pig, adding more moisture to her still damp clothes. They were halfway into the mountain pass, moving slowly. Both she and Kel were wearing full body armour. Their bows were strung and they rode with their lances at the ready, prepared for an ambush around every corner.

The first stone bounced off Kel's shoulder plate with a dull 'clang'. The next fifteen or so tumbled down on the two knights in rapid succession. One of them must have hit Peachblossom where it hurt, because he neighed and almost reared. Kel had to concentrate on keeping him calm, but Alanna had time to loose two arrows before the ogre heads retreated back behind the cliffs above them. Neither of her arrows hit their mark.

"Go away!" one of the ogres shouted down at them. Soon other ogres joined in with both voices and stones.

"Stay off!" they yelled.

"Keep away!"

"Go back!"

Kel was putting one of her griffin fledged arrows to her bowstring when Alanna saw that three ogres were preparing to heave a large rock down at the track.

"Just ride!" she shouted, kicking at Snowfall's flanks.

She saw Kel lean down to whisper something in Peachblossom's ear, and then they galloped side by side through the mountain pass. Alanna kept expecting another ambush, a real fight, but none came. When they got out of the mountain pass Alanna slowed Snowfall down to a trot and then they stopped completely. Horses and riders were all breathing heavily.

Kel dismounted to tend a nasty cut on Peachblossom's neck. The great brute let her handle him as if he was a kitten.

"That was odd," Alanna said, wiping a damp sleeve over her sweat soaked forehead. "I thought there'd be more of a fight. I'm almost disappointed."

* * *

The heat got more oppressive as they left the mountains behind. The land they rode through was stony and barren with no signs of life in sight, not even so much as a withered tree trunk.

"Whoever named this place 'the Wasteland' had the right idea of it," Kel remarked with a wry grin.

Alanna smiled back, but she didn't feel like talking. Soon the only sound came from the horse's hooves against the stony ground and a few subdued sparrow chirps.

As they got closer to their destination it felt as if the air was getting thicker. At first Alanna thought her queasiness came just from the rising heat and the eerie silence, but then her ears started to ring faintly, and she realised she was sensing a strong magic presence. It wasn't quite like anything Alanna had ever come across before. Still, there was a note to it that she recognised, but couldn't quite put her finger on. It worried her.


	5. Sparrow (Kel)

Both Kel and Alanna preferred to enter Well-of-the-Wasteland well rested, so they set camp in the wasteland quite early in the evening. The next morning they got up early, and by midday they finally reached their destination.

Most of Kel's sparrows had flown off to Well-of-the-Wasteland as soon as the village came into sight. It took Kel and Alanna some time to catch up with them. When they rode into the village, they saw that the sparrows had flown off to inspect the well that gave the little village its name. Around the well stood small houses made from clay or stone. They looked perfectly ordinary, and to Kel the well did too. The only slightly special about it was that it had an old well sweep to get the water out rather than a more modern winch mechanism. But it clearly held some fascination not only to the sparrows but to Kel's human companion as well. Alanna was practically standing in her saddle, so far was she leaning forward to look at the well.

Kel, for her part, was more interested in the two men waiting beside it. When Kel and Alanna drew to a halt one of them took a step forward with his palms turned upwards.

"Greetings, Woman Who Rides Like a Man," he said, bowing his head to Alanna.

Alanna sat back in Snowfall's saddle and turn her eyes to the man who had spoken.

"Greetings, headman," she said. "Are you Bazhir?"

The man smiled. With his mousy hair and ruddy skin he didn't look much like a Bazhir at all.

"No," he said, "we People of the Well do not count ourselves among the Bazhir tribes, though most of us have at least some Bazhir blood. I used your Bazhir because we first got word about you it was from our cousins in the desert. My name is Roger Huntsford, by the way. And this –" He gestured to the man beside him. "This is our shaman, Nebo Sekal."

The shaman bowed. With his burnoose and black moustaches he looked much more like a Bazhir to Kel, though his skin was on the lighter side and his name didn't quite sound Bazhir either. She supposed it was due to the mixed heritage that master Huntsford had mentioned.

"I'd heard you were a powerful shaman," Nebo Sekal said to Alanna, bowing deeply, "but being in your presence puts the tales to shame. What brings the great Lioness to our humble village? Have you felt the Calling of the Well, or are you here about the sickness? I've heard that you have a healing Gift."

Kel and Alanna looked at each other. They hadn't heard anything about a sickness. Furthermore, from what Kel could see in Alanna's face, the Lioness didn't have any more of an idea of what "the Calling of the Well" meant than Kel herself had. And the shaman hadn't even mentioned the ogres.

Alanna and Kel got down from their saddles, and Alanna introduced Kel as "Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan, another woman who rides like a man".

As the shaman led Alanna away towards the well, Kel took the headman's hands in hers.

"It's an honor to have you in my village, Lady Knight," Master Huntsford said. "Do you have a Gift for healing as well?"

"No," Kel replied. "We're not actually here to help with the sickness, though I'm sure Alanna _will_ help in any way she can. We're here about the ogres that attack people who try to enter your village. Your shaman didn't mention them, but surely…"

"Oh," the headman interrupted her. Then he was silent for a moment before he said "Yes, we've seen ogres skulking around the village, but they've never come close enough to be a real threat. I didn't… well, I just assumed that people stopped coming because of the sickness."

If Kel had been uncomfortable about their mission before, it was nothing to what she felt now. There was far more to this place than a dispute over land with some rogue ogres.

* * *

Alanna spent the rest of the day in the village's infirmary. Kel was left to walk around the village, asking people what they knew about the ogres, with only her sparrows as company. No one seemed to know anything about what the ogres wanted, but an old woman pointed out that they had showed up at about the same time as the new sickness. That piece of information didn't exactly make Kel feel any better about the situation.

When she'd reached the outskirts of the village, just when she was about to turn back, she heard a small voice shout,

"Hello there, sparrow-lady!"

The speaker was a young girl. She looked to be at most six years old, but it was hard to tell, because she was very small. Her eyes followed the sparrows zooming around Kel's head, and when she held out a finger Bold flew off to land on it. That made the girl giggle.

"I like sparrows," she said, but Kel wasn't sure if she said it to her or to Bold. "Because people call _me _Sparrow."

With the girl's small stature, dirty brown dress and small black eyes Kel could see how she'd gotten that nickname.

"Hello, Sparrow," she said to the girl. "I'm Kel."


End file.
